preparing to take the ARNAP-has anyone out there taken this assessment

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I am a Canadian citizen who went to nursing school in the U.S.A. In order to get a license in Alberta, Canada I must take an assessment called the ARNAP (Alberta Registered Nurses Assessment Program). I am looking for advice on what to study, what the exam was like and to connect to anyone who has recently taken this assessment.

Thanks Jolene

It's good that you have experience on a med-surg-telemetry unit, as you will be more comfortable taking histories and doing physical assessments on the standardized patients during the OSCE. Since you are not working, suggest you find two people to practice OSCE scenarios with, one person can play the patient's role and one can play the assessor's role.

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I went to Northern Maine Community College. I have an ADN...

Oh okay, other provinces would require you to do the exam then too, since the minimum requirement is BSN/BScN in Canada. Worth checking anyway, just in case there was another way around it. It's the stress of the exam that's the worst part, the actual content of the exam is okay. Having worked med-surg telemetry, you have a leg up. Also, the fact that the english language will be of no barrier whatsoever to you gives you another advantage. It would be a really, really difficult exam for people who struggle with the language because of the importance placed on client communication due to the fact that there are patient actors right there that you need to interact with. But our US nursing programs emphasize this just as much as the Canadian schools of nursing do, so for us, it is second nature. For what it's worth, I think you made the right choice in deciding to take the exam rather than to do the bridging program.

Call to inquire as to whether Touchstone will be offering prep days for those registered to do the exam. In Ontario, HealthForce Ontario runs 1-day sessions for registrants to go and learn about the structure of the exam, do/watch a few practice scenarios just to get comfortable with what you will be presented with on exam day. Like how the whole station rotation works and what will be expected of you in the set amount of time you have with each patient. Obviously the scenarios are not ones that will be used in the actual exam but it just gives a really good idea of what to expect so you don't spend the first few scenarios just figuring out how the whole exam structure works. Then there is time to ask questions and if they can answer them, they will. It was incredibly helpful. So since you have time between now and the exam because you don't yet have a date, use it to study and on the side, keep pushing about a prep day, and if you know others who will be taking the exam ask them to push about a prep day as well. I think it's only fair for Alberta registrants to have the same set-up/prep opportunities as Ontario registrants.

What @dishes suggested as prep is great.

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I agree with RN_Pro about asking Touchstone if there will be a prep session for the ARNAP candidates, like there is for IENCAP candidates. Also, there is an OSCE video on Touchstone's website, it gives a 3 minute overview of the format and the roles and expectations of the standardized client, examiner and candidate.

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Thank you so much for all you input I really really appreciate it! You guys are awesome! Happy nursing!

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Where can i find those videos

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Are you doing the exam in january 2017 ?? I am doing in january and i am doing in Alberta.

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Specializes in LPN.

Hii

I was Registered Nurse in India and worked as an RN in Emerge for 4 yrs then moved to Csnada in 2015. I got LPN license nd started job as an LPN since December 2017. Also my RN processing was going on. Now CARNA informed me that I am required to take ARNAP exam. I don’t know anything about this examination. Is there someone who can help me atleast to tell me about outlines nd brief introduction about exam content therefore I can start study because they informed me last week about it.

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Specializes in LPN.

Also I really need to know that how much time means how many hours per week I need to prepare myself for this exam because I am working full time in hospital as an LIcensed Practical Nurse and I am Mom od 1year old. Therefore I can book my exam date. Can I prepare myself in 3 months? Because next available date is February 1st,2020.
plz reply someone.

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